The Day She Found Out
by Kurama no Miko2003
Summary: Kurama's next mission takes him to the same place as his mother's vacation! Read to find out what happens! Award-winning fic


Disclaimer: I don't own Yuu Yuu Hakusho or any of its characters. I earn no money from this at all; it is only for entertainment. I just thought you might want to know.  
  
Author's Note: This fic contains spoilers through Vol. 12 of the manga, so if you really don't want to find out, then don't read this fic. If you don't mind or have read all of it, then by all means, please do read this fic. This is all that I have to say, So I'm just going to start the fic now. Enjoy minna-san! (^_^)  
  
The Day She Found Out By Kurama no Miko2003  
  
"Bye, Shuuichi, I'm leaving for vacation! Be careful and don't mess up the house too much, okay? Don't forget to do your summer work! I'll see you when I come back in a month!" Shiori, Kurama's mother, said as she left to get on the taxi to the airport.  
  
"I know, mom, I know," Kurama replied as he waved goodbye to her. He then picked up the phone and called Yuusuke and Kuwabara. "Yuusuke? You called yesterday and said something about a mission from Koenma."  
  
"Yeah, I haven't watched the tape yet, I thought you might want to come along. Can I come over now so we can watch it?"  
  
"Sure, my mom just left for vacation. She won't be back for a month. Is Kuwabara with you?"  
  
"Not right now, but he's supposed to be coming in another fifteen minutes. Why don't we meet at your place in half an hour?"  
  
"Sure, I'll go and get Hiei right away. See you then," Kurama said as he hung up. The doorbell rang just as Kurama was about to leave. He opens the door to find that Hiei was there.  
  
"You know, you really don't need to get me, Kurama," Hiei said as he entered. "Let me guess, your mom's on vacation, and Yuusuke and Kuwabara are coming over in half an hour?"  
  
"How'd you guess? Wait, I think I know," Kurama replied with a smile.  
  
Half an hour later . . .  
  
"Hi, Yuusuke, Kuwabara-kun, Puu. Come in," Kurama greeted as he closed the door. "Where's Botan?"  
  
"She'll be here in a couple of minutes. She's right outside," Yuusuke said as he looked towards the window. Hiei opens the window to let her in.  
  
"Sorry I'm late, Koenma had to give me something for your latest assignment," she said as she flew in and landed, acting like it was no big deal to fly into someone's house. "Yuusuke, did you bring the tape and your luggage?"  
  
"Yeah. Hey, Kurama, do you have any junk food?"  
  
"Mm-hmm, how about chips and pop?"  
  
"That'd be perfect!"  
  
"Okay, I'll go get it," Kurama said as he walked towards kitchen.  
  
Five minutes later . . .  
  
"Your next assignment is to check and see if the rumors about someone planning to steal one of the three treasures are true. This is only a surveillance mission, but all of you will be going. If they are true, you will contact me to let me know. We will plant a trap for the demon and, if it all goes well, the treasures will not be stolen and we will have arrested a criminal. You have one month to complete this assignment. The location is some random tropical island in the Pacific. Good luck, and be safe. Koenma, out."  
  
"Koenma has supplied me with these plane tickets to get to the island," Botan said as she handed out the tickets.  
  
"Uh-oh," Kurama said as he looked at his ticket. "If I'm not mistaken, it's the same flight that my mom's taking to go to her vacation. I hope we're not going to be there for a month. She'll be wondering what I'm doing on the same flight she is. She also doesn't know anything about my past as Youko Kurama."  
  
"I know, we could dress you up as a girl. I'm pretty sure your mom would not be able to identify you then," Botan offered.  
  
"Um . . . how about if we dropped that idea?" Kurama replied, desperately hoping that there'd be an alternative solution.  
  
"Why not, Kurama? Okay, so maybe you don't like to cross dress, but it's the best alternative I can possibly think of. It's either that or you go as a youko, but I'm pretty sure you can't maintain that form for the whole plane ride. The entire flight is about twelve hours long," Botan stated, hoping to convince him.  
  
"Are you sure those are my only two choices?"  
  
"Yes! Besides, I have very good fashion sense, I'm pretty sure I can come up with something that'd suit you! Besides, I knew about this the minute I saw the plane ticket, so I also stopped at Keiko's for some clothes. That and I also picked up Yuusuke's and Kuwabara's suitcases."  
  
"In that case, I'll be back in a flash," Hiei said as he left.  
  
One hour later . . .  
  
"There, I'm all finished!" Botan said as she led Kurama, who was now wearing a knee-length green dress that matched his eyes, out of his room. On top of that, his hair was tied back into a ponytail and he was also wearing makeup. A red purse was hanging from his shoulder and he was also wearing a pair of sunglasses to hide his eyes. Everyone stared wide-eyed as they saw the result.  
  
"I'm-Kurama! What's up with the makeup?!" Hiei exclaimed as he entered with his suitcase.  
  
"What's with the stares?" Kurama asked in his normal voice.  
  
"Kurama, you can't talk like that! Your voice needs to be higher, or else your mom might figure out it's you!"  
  
"Ahem . . . Is this better?" he asked in a voice that was as high as Ikari Shinji from Evangelion. Everyone just nodded. "Can we leave?"  
  
"Um, Kurama, where's your luggage?" asked Kuwabara, being the usual idiot that he is.  
  
"It's right here. Half of it's my normal clothes, the other half is Keiko's," he replied in his normal voice.  
  
"Now that everything's been settled, let's go!" Botan exclaimed. "Anyone have money for a taxi?"  
  
"I have enough money for the taxi, but I'll pay on only one condition. No one is to mention this to anyone else, and there will be no teasing on this in the future! Or else, you'll severely regret it," Kurama said as he pulled out his credit card.  
  
"Okay," everyone replied, knowing that Kurama was not as nice or weak as he looks when he's mad.  
  
At the airport . . .  
  
"Let's check and see which gate the plane's at," Kurama said in his Ikari Shinji voice as they entered. (AN: As long as he's pretending to be a girl, he will be using this voice.)  
  
"Good idea," Hiei said. They all walked over to the TV screens where arrivals and departures were shown. "It's at gate C17. Anyone know where it is?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll take you there. Hiei, do you mind if you held Puu for me? I really don't want to leave him out of my sight," Yuusuke said as he started to walk off. Hiei nods in agreement as everyone else follows Yuusuke.  
  
"Um, is it okay if we stay out of sight for now?" Kurama asked as they arrived at the gate. "I guess I'm still a little nervous about being seen by my mother."  
  
"We will now begin boarding the plane. Would all first class passengers and connoisseur passengers seated in rows 1-10 come up now?"  
  
"We're riding first class, so let's go," Botan says as she lines up right behind Kurama's mother. Kurama starts to sweat like mad.  
  
"You know, you look a little like my son, young lady," Shiori says as she turns around behind her to talk; the line was very long.  
  
"Why, thank you," Kurama responded rather nervously.  
  
"He's a really sweet boy, always good in school, and never gets into any trouble at all. That's the only reason why I feel comfortable leaving him at home while I go on vacation," she said. "So, are all of you together?" She pauses for a moment while she stares at Yuusuke. "Aren't you one of Shuuichi's friends?"  
  
"Yeah, I am. He said he couldn't come along because he had to stay home to watch the house, so, he's missing all the fun we're going to have before we start on our summer work," Yuusuke carefully responded, realizing that she was Kurama's mother.  
  
"Well, have fun," she said as she gave the ticket lady her ticket and boarded the plane. She headed towards an aisle seat in the first class section.  
  
"Whew, I almost thought she recognized me," Kurama breathed with relief as he saw her get on.  
  
"Um, do you have any forms of identification?" the ticket lady asked as she took their tickets. They all looked at each other hesitantly. Kurama carefully took a flower out of his hand and gave it to Hiei. Hiei returned a quizzical look and then read Kurama's mind. He frowned at the idea, but knew that he had to do it.  
  
"Here, ticket lady, a pretty flower for you," Hiei said as he handed her the flower in the cutest little kid voice and look imaginable. She smiled as took it and smelled it. Kurama then walked forward.  
  
"You will let us on board without showing any forms of identification," he calmly and quietly said.  
  
"Welcome aboard . . ." she said, as though she were hypnotized. Once the five of them were on, Kurama snapped his fingers and she snapped out of the spell.  
  
"What was that, Kurama?" Yuusuke asked.  
  
"It was a flower with hypnotic pollen. I could just release its pollen if I wanted to, but it was pointless to hypnotize everyone on board, so I just summoned the flower. It grows only in the Makai," he explained.  
  
"You guys are not going to tease me about this, either, or else you will regret it!" Hiei calmly threatened as they approached their seats. To Kurama's shock and dismay, he and Hiei were to be seated right next to his mother. Just as he was about to sit in the window seat, Hiei asked once again in his little kid voice, "May I sit in the window seat, onechan? I wanna look out the window and see all of the pretty clouds!"  
  
"Botan, how long is the flight again?" Yuusuke asked, seeing that Hiei was getting back at Kurama for making him give the ticket lady the flower. He, Botan, and Kuwabara were to be seated right behind Hiei and Kurama.  
  
"Let me see, about 12 hours. Why?"  
  
"Kurama's stuck in the middle between his mother and Hiei, even though Hiei's the one who should be in the middle seat."  
  
Meanwhile, in the row right in front of them . . .  
  
"Well, hello again! Who knew that we're to be seated right next to each other! Well, now that we're on the plane, you really don't need to be wearing your sunglasses, you know," she greeted.  
  
"Um . . . um . . . I know, but I think they're, like, like so cool and everything! I just want to keep them on!" he replied, extremely Valley Girl. Hiei turned around to prevent Kurama from seeing that he was cracking up. Botan, Yuusuke, and Kuwabara had also heard Kurama's reply and were laughing like an idiotic trio. Kurama was about to turn around and say something to the three when the captain of the plane made an announcement on the PA system.  
  
"This is your captain speaking. We will be taxiing on the runway in a couple of minutes, so would all passengers take their seats and buckle up their seat belts? The safety video will be shown at this present moment."  
  
"Yuusuke, what is the purpose of this video?" Botan asked.  
  
"The point is to show you the safety procedures in case the plane needs to make an emergency landing, and where all of the emergency exits are. Of course, with the four of us here, there's no need to worry."  
  
"I hope so, but I think we ought to be more worried about Kurama. He seems to be pretty nervous up there sitting next to his mother," she whispered in reply.  
  
"I don't think Hiei will try to do anything to make it any worse than it already is," Yuusuke replied, desperately hoping that he is right. "We're going down the runway. Here, it's a piece of gum. It'll help prevent your ears from popping."  
  
"It's alright. I'm used to this from flying on my oar. Maybe you should give it to Hiei or Kurama."  
  
"Psst, Hiei, chew this and your ears won't pop when the plane takes off. Just don't swallow it or it'll take seven years for your stomach to digest it," Yuusuke whispered, giving the gum to Hiei. Hiei put it in his mouth and chewed it. They all sat back as the plane took off. However, about twenty minutes after the plane took off . . .  
  
"Onechan, are we there yet?" Hiei asked in his little kid voice. He had spit out the gum earlier and put it in the airsick bag.  
  
"No, we're not," Kurama replied, grinding his teeth. Ten minutes later . . .  
  
"Onechan, are we there yet?"  
  
"No." Five minutes later . . .  
  
"Onechan, are we there yet?"  
  
"No." Kurama was now extremely annoyed with Hiei. Three minutes later . . .  
  
"Onechan, are-"  
  
"NO!" Kurama yelled. He then took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "Why don't we play a little game? Why don't you choose?"  
  
"Okay, let's play with . . . Let's play with Puu!" Hiei exclaimed. Kurama did not reply, but gave Hiei an extremely poisonous look over his sunglasses. Hiei replied with a big smile that was extremely uncharacteristic of his usual moody and antisocial self.  
  
"Puu!" Kurama proceeded to do as Hiei requested, but was giving both Puu and Hiei extremely poisonous looks.  
  
Hiei, the first chance I get, I'm gonna kill you, he thought as he unenthusiastically played with Puu.  
  
"You know, that's not very nice, onechan," Hiei replied. He'd used his jagan to read Kurama's mind. Just then, Kurama's mother got up to go to the restroom. The minute she was out of sight, Kurama started to try to strangle Hiei. Botan, Yuusuke, and Kuwabara sweatdropped once they figured out what was happening.  
  
"You know, you're being a huge pain in the butt! Since you're so willing to play the younger brother, why don't you listen to your 'onechan' and behave! Otherwise-" Before Kurama could proceed any further, his mother returned to her seat. Kurama backed off at once and tried to ignore Hiei for a while.  
  
Three hours later . . .  
  
"Onechan, I need to go potty!" Hiei exclaimed.  
  
"Go by yourself!"  
  
"But I'm afraid to go on my own! Please stand outside and hold Puu for me, onechan!" Hiei replied while giving Kurama puppy eyes. Botan and Yuusuke could not help but burst out laughing when Hiei said this. Kuwabara had fallen asleep in his seat, missing what was happening. Kurama gave Hiei another poisonous look before getting up to accompany Hiei to the restroom. Once they were there, Hiei happily handed Kurama Puu and went in. He came out five minutes later and said, "You know, you're just asking for this. This is fun! I ought to do this to you more often!"  
  
"Oh really, am I? So let me get this straight. You're doing this just to . . ."  
  
"I'm doing this to get back at you for making me give that flower to the ticket lady. Now, if you don't continue, I'll blow your cover!" Hiei gleefully finished.  
  
"Oh great. You know, I never thought you'd be the type to pull something like this on me. It seems more like Botan or Yuusuke to do this."  
  
"True, but neither of them are short enough or look young enough to try it! Now give me back Puu and we'll return to our seats." Kurama complies and returns to his seat next to his mother.  
  
"You know, you're a lot like my son," Shiori said as Kurama sat down. "He's always this nice and friendly. He also has red hair, like yours. It'd be nice if you could meet him. His name's Shuuichi and he was in his first year of high school last year. He got straight A's and-oh I'm so proud of him!" At that, Kurama looked away as though he was embarrassed, because in truth, he was. "Oh, I'm sorry to keep on blabbering like that, it's just that you remind me of him."  
  
"It's alright," Kurama replied, unsure of what to say. It's okay because I am your son. I wish I can tell you that, but it would only cause you unnecessary worry. But then again, I hope she's not onto me, he silently added.  
  
"Awww, that's so sweet, onechan," Hiei said. He'd been using his jagan to read Kurama's mind, yet again. Kurama shot him another poisonous look. Behind him, Yuusuke and Botan were trying to wake Kuwabara up for lunch.  
  
"Hiei-chan," Botan said as she saw Hiei give her a poisonous glare, "Hiei, would you like to help us wake up Kuwabara-kun?" Hiei nods like a little kid in reply. "Well get out of your seat and bring Puu with you, okay?" Hiei unbuckles his seat belt and walks over next to Kuwabara.  
  
"What do you want me to do?"  
  
"It really doesn't matter what you do, as long as you wake up Kuwabara without destroying the plane."  
  
"Okay." Hiei slaps Kuwabara's cheeks a couple of times, hard.  
  
"What's going on?" Kuwabara demanded as the pain registered in his brain. "Hiei, you really didn't have to slap me that hard, did you?" Hiei only smiled sweetly and nods, since Shiori was watching. Kurama, figuring that he really didn't want to look bad, decides to give Hiei a little discipline. He was playing the role of Hiei's older sister, after all.  
  
"Hiei, how many times have I told you not to slap people hard in the cheeks to get them to wake up? There are other methods, you know. Now apologize to Kuwabara-kun and sit down here this instant!" Hiei appeared to think for a moment before replying.  
  
"No! I refuse!"  
  
"Hiei . . ." Kurama hissed as he gave Hiei an extremely menacing look and looked as though he was about ready to turn into a youko. Hiei sees this look and returns to his seat.  
  
"No, it's okay," Kuwabara said, realizing just how tense things are between Hiei and Kurama.  
  
"You're one tough sister, Kurama," Hiei says in a low voice as he sat down again.  
  
"Of course. You're being one tough little brother," Kurama replied in a tone that his mother would not hear. In a louder voice, he then said, "I wonder what they're serving for lunch today. I hope it's good."  
  
"Oh, don't you worry, first class is usually a little better than your regular airplane food. There's a menu in the seat pocket in front of you, so choose from there," Shiori replied. "You know, I've been talking to you for so long and I'm afraid I didn't catch your name! My name is Minamino Shiori."  
  
"As you know, this is my little brother Hiei. I'm- I'm Sakura, Kurama Sakura, Minamino-san," Kurama answered, glad that he didn't slip. Everyone sweatdropped at Kurama's creativity.  
  
"Sakura! What a beautiful name! If I ever had a daughter, I'd name her that! Sakura are so beautiful when they're in full bloom!"  
  
"Th-thank you, Minamino-san," Kurama replied. Just then, the stewardess stopped to take Botan's, Yuusuke's, and Kuwabara's orders. "Let's see, what shall I have . . ."  
  
"Ooooooh . . . I'll have chicken, onechan! Chicken, chicken, chicken!" Hiei exclaimed as he looked down his menu.  
  
"Puu, puu, puu!" Puu said, as Yuusuke got his food and started eating.  
  
"Does that stuffed animal speak?" Shiori asked, surprised.  
  
"Well, you know, it's, uh, it's one of those where you squeeze it and it squeaks, only in this case, it puus," Kurama replied, sweatdropping.  
  
"What would you have for lunch?" the stewardess asked.  
  
"Um, he will have the chicken. I'll have the grilled chicken salad, thanks."  
  
"I'll have the beef, thank you." A few minutes later, their food was served.  
  
A couple of minutes later . . .  
  
"This food is bad! It tastes even worse than my mom's cooking!" Yuusuke exclaimed after eating for about five minutes. "Botan, if you want my food, be my guest!" Yuusuke dumps his food into her tray.  
  
"Yuusuke, if you don't want your food, don't put it on my tray! Keep it on your own stupid tray!" she yelled in response.  
  
Not long after that . . .  
  
"Oh my, what is going on with your friends back there, Kurama?" Shiori asks as she wonders about the shouting in the row behind her. Suddenly, a piece of food lands on Kurama's salad. Kurama sweatdrops as he realized what was happening behind him. His intuition proved to be right when he turned around to see if he was right. Yuusuke, Botan, and Kuwabara were in the middle of a food fight, all three covered with food.  
  
"I suggest that you not look to see, mo-Minamino-san," Kurama replied, glad that he caught himself before he completely slipped. He was relieved when she didn't seem to notice.  
  
Several hours later . . .  
  
"This is your captain speaking, we will now be starting the in-flight movie. There are headphones in the seat pocket in front of you." Kurama saw this as an opportunity to distract himself from his current problem and decided to watch it. To his dismay, the main character of the movie had the same problem he had. The minute he figured it out, he took off the headphones and decided to try and sleep. However, he changed his mind when he realized that he might sleep talk and therefore, in effect, blow his cover. So he sat there for the duration of the movie, sweating nonstop and afraid that he was going to slip up at any given moment. Hiei had fallen asleep not long after lunch, and the other three were sleeping as well, tired from their food fight. Puu was asleep as well, curled up on Hiei's lap.  
  
After the movie ended . . .  
  
"Wow, that was such a good movie!" Shiori said as she took off her headphones. "Did you see it, Kurama?"  
  
"Um, no. I find this type to be too boring for me. I've always preferred samurai movies, fantasy movies, or martial arts movies," he replied.  
  
"I hate to keep on referring to Shuuichi, my son, but he likes the same kinds of movies that you do! Why don't you come visit me? I'm sure my son would love to meet you! You do live in Tokyo, don't you?"  
  
"Yeah, sure, of course I'd love to meet him," Kurama replied, completely unsure of what to do if he had to meet himself.  
  
"Now, here's my address, phone number, and my son's email address," she said as she wrote it all down on a sheet of paper.  
  
"Thank you," Kurama replied, getting even more nervous than before. He checked his watch. Only six more hours to go, he told himself.  
  
"Onechan, I need to go potty. Can you come with me?" Hiei said as he woke up.  
  
"Again? I'm pretty sure that there are no monsters in the restroom on this plane. Why don't you go on your own? I'll hold Puu here for you until you get back, okay?" Kurama answered in his best older sister tone while giving Hiei poisonous looks, yet again.  
  
"No! Hiei wants Sakura to come with him!"  
  
"Must I?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"Fine. Excuse me, Minamino-san."  
  
"You know, I think Kurama's holding out pretty well. Besides, who knew Hiei could act so well? It's so cute watching those two play brother and sister," Botan said as Kurama got up, yet again to take Hiei to the restroom.  
  
"Yeah, but that's only because he has to. Besides, I'm pretty sure Kurama's about ready to kill Hiei for this," Kuwabara said as he noticed Kurama just seething in anger.  
  
"True, but still, like Botan said, it's still kinda cute."  
  
"Urameshi, did you just say that?"  
  
"So?"  
  
"Wow, the great delinquent Urameshi thinks that something's cute!"  
  
On Kurama and Hiei's way back to their seats . . .  
  
"Hiei, how much longer are you going to keep up this act?" Kurama asked.  
  
"Oh, at least until the end of the plane ride, that's for sure!"  
  
"Oh great . . . As if trying to keep on fooling my mother isn't enough . . ."  
  
"Hey, at least I'm helping! She'd never guess it was you if I continue calling you my sister!" Hiei said with a laugh. "Thanks for coming with me, onechan!"  
  
Several hours later . . .  
  
Kurama once again looked at his watch. Another three hours and I can stop fooling my mother, he thought.  
  
"Onechan, are we there yet?" Hiei asked, attempting to annoy Kurama, yet again.  
  
"No, Hiei, we're not, now why don't you listen to your headphones for a little while to pass the time?"  
  
"No! How much longer, onechan?"  
  
"About three hours, Hiei," Kurama said, getting annoyed once again. A couple of minutes later . . .  
  
"Onechan, has it been three hours yet? Hiei wants to be there already!"  
  
"Here, why don't you listen to my CD player instead? Choose a CD," Kurama said, hoping that this would keep Hiei quiet for a while.  
  
"No! Hiei wants onechan to play with Puu!"  
  
"Again?" Kurama asked with gritted teeth and an extremely poisonous look. Hiei only closes his eyes and smiles a big smile, ignoring the poisonous look that Kurama was giving him. "Alright . . ."  
  
"You know, I think Hiei's getting a kick out of this," Yuusuke said to Botan as he eavesdropped on the pair.  
  
"Yuusuke! You shouldn't be eavesdropping!" Botan reprimanded while smacking him on the head. "I do agree with you, though. Hiei's gonna be in trouble with Kurama once he's off the plane."  
  
"This is your captain speaking, due to turbulence, dinner will be served half an hour late. I suggest that all passengers remain seated at this time."  
  
"You know, Botan, we never did finish that food fight," Yuusuke started to say.  
  
"Yes, and you'll be the one to be defeated this time! Kuwabara-kun, are you with me?" Botan asked.  
  
"Of course!"  
  
Half an hour later . . .  
  
Hiei and Kurama are attempting to calmly eat dinner as a food fight raged behind them. Puu was in a very excited state, but was currently being held down by Hiei, who was 'pretending' to feed it.  
  
"I wonder how much longer those three idiots are going to continue this food fight," Kurama said in an annoyed tone of voice and a vein popping on his forehead. "I've just about had enough of this!" Just then, a piece of food comes flying over his head and lands on his tray. "That's it! This is a declaration of war!" He then reached into his ponytail for a seed and drops it onto the floor. This goes unnoticed by Shiori, who was busily eating. Kurama then allowed the plant to grow an extremely thin stalk until it peeked just over the edge of Yuusuke's tray table. The three of them notice this, and stopped their food fight. The three watched in awe as a bud formed and bloomed into a pink flower right in front of them.  
  
"Wow, what a pretty flower!" Botan exclaimed as she saw it bloom. "Yuusuke, is it just me or are you getting a little drowsy as well?"  
  
"You know, now that you mention it, so am I . . . Good night . . ."  
  
"Urameshi, you're right . . . wake me up when we're there . . ."  
  
"Good, that should hold those three for the rest of the plane trip," Kurama mused as he allowed the plant to wilt and crumple into dust.  
  
Fifteen minutes until landing . . .  
  
I guess I should wake up those three now, Kurama thought as he reached into his ponytail for another seed. Shiori was off at the restroom at this point, so she didn't even know about this. Kurama did the same thing, only this time, he had it grow three branches and bloom two inches from their faces. They all woke up the minute the plant disappeared.  
  
"What-what happened? I remember we were having a food fight, and then, and then a pink flower came out of nowhere and then I got all sleepy," Botan said as she woke up.  
  
"It's probably Kurama," Yuusuke quietly said.  
  
Meanwhile . . .  
  
"Glad that the ride's over?" Hiei asked as Kurama just as he was telling himself that it was only fifteen minutes more. Just then, Shiori came back.  
  
"Hiei, we're almost there, so buckle up and we'll be landing in a little bit," Kurama said in his best older sister voice.  
  
"Okay! Hiei can't wait to play at the beach!" Hiei exclaimed in reply.  
  
"This is the captain speaking. We're now arriving at our destination. The time will be three in the afternoon when we land and there's not a cloud in the sky. Temperatures are in the eighties and the humidity is at about 75%. Would the crew please prepare for landing?"  
  
Ten minutes later . . .  
  
"Well, I hope you have fun here with your friends, Kurama. I hope I'll you'll visit me when you return to Tokyo!" Shiori said as she got off the plane.  
  
"Okay, so now what?" Yuusuke asked as he came up behind Kurama.  
  
"We're going to go to baggage claim to get our luggage. Then we'll need to check into our resort hotel and start our investigation," Botan instructed.  
  
"Yes and I'm going to change once we get there!" Kurama said.  
  
"Um, that's not a good idea, Kurama. There's only one hotel on this island."  
  
"What?! You mean I'm stuck wearing this until we leave?!"  
  
"Yes, unless we're going out at night to investigate." Kurama's face turns blue with shock. "You know, it's not that bad! Some of us actually like to wear dresses!"  
  
"Easy for you to say, you're a girl," Kurama replied miserably.  
  
"Hey, at least your mom didn't figure it out, right?" Yuusuke said as he realized how much Kurama hated this.  
  
"You're right."  
  
"Come on! Let's go get our stuff!" They managed to find the baggage claim without incident. However, they noticed something was wrong right away.  
  
"Is it just me, or am I sensing a lot of youkai here?" Kuwabara said as he stopped to wait for his suitcase to come out of the claim.  
  
"Kuwabara-kun's right. I'm getting a reading on this as well, Yuusuke," Botan confirmed. "We should be very careful about giving ourselves be given away."  
  
"Let's just get our stuff, okay? I really want to change out of this. Besides, if they do decide to try and attack us, there's the four of us to take care of them," Kurama said, desperately hoping that they won't. Fortunately, they didn't, and the five of them picked up their luggage without incident.  
  
"Okay, so where's the resort?" Kurama asked, "I'm really tired from the plane ride, and I don't think it's just jet lag."  
  
"Um . . . according to the map the Koenma gave me, it should be the building next to the airport. We should leave from exit 66 and it should be no more than six blocks away," Botan replied.  
  
"I guess this place is full of youkai. Just hearing the number 6 so many times is starting to get on my nerves," Yuusuke stated. "Come on, I really don't want to stay here any longer, so let's just check into our rooms."  
  
At the hotel check-in desk . . .  
  
"Hello, welcome to The Random Island in the Pacific. What name are your rooms reserved under and how many are in your party?" the clerk asked.  
  
"Um, there should be three rooms reserved under the name Botan. There are five of us. We'll be staying for a month," Botan replied.  
  
"Okay, and when and how are you going to pay for the rooms?"  
  
"I'll be paying for the rooms. How much is it?" Kurama asked, knowing that he's the only one with money in the group.  
  
"Since you're a party of five and staying for a month, there's a special discount. It's $666 for the entire month."  
  
"Um, okay, I'll pay when we check out."  
  
"Okay, then, these are the card keys to your rooms, there are two in each envelope. Your rooms are on the fifth floor, all next to each other. If there's anything else you need, just go to customer service and they can get it for you. Thank you for staying with us, and have a nice vacation!"  
  
"Okay, let's go drop off our stuff. So, Botan, how are we going to split up the three rooms?" Yuusuke asked.  
  
"Okay, I will have room 504 to myself, you and Kuwabara will be sharing room 502, and Kurama and Hiei will be sharing room 506," Botan replied.  
  
"Why are you the one to get the room all by yourself?" Yuusuke whined.  
  
"Because I'm the only girl!!" she yelled.  
  
"She's got a point, Yuusuke," Hiei calmly answered.  
  
"Can we go up to our rooms yet? I want to get out of this stupid dress!"  
  
"The elevator's just ahead. Why don't we take it up to the fifth floor? It's probably faster than walking up the stairs," Yuusuke suggested. Everyone agreed on that and got in. However, just as the door was closing . . .  
  
"Could you please keep the door open?" Shiori shouted. Yuusuke complied and she got into the elevator. "Oh, your room is also on the fifth floor? What a coincidence, so is mine! Which one is it?"  
  
"I'm in 502."  
  
"We're in 504."  
  
"We're in 506."  
  
"Well, gee, Kurama, it looks like yours is next to mine! I'm in 508!" Kurama's face paled considerably at that. He was going to have to continue to dress as a girl as long as they were on the island. He started to feel dizzy and fainted at the thought. Yuusuke caught Kurama before he hit the ground, while everyone else sweatdropped. "Is she okay?"  
  
"Yeah, onechan should be fine. I don't think she got a lot of sleep on the plane," Hiei replied as the little brother once more. Gee, I wonder why, the other three thought simultaneously. Just then, the elevator dinged and they all got out. The rooms were at the end of the hallway, which was covered with a very expensive and well-cushioned carpet. Hiei, who was playing the excited little kid, ran down to his and Kurama's room only to find that his arm was not long enough to put the card key into the slot. Kuwabara, Yuusuke, and Botan had to turn away to stop themselves from laughing out loud.  
  
"Here, Hiei, give me the card and I'll open the door for you," Botan said. Hiei complied, and a couple of seconds later, the door was open. "Yuusuke, bring Kurama in here. He-she should recover in a couple of hours. She's just tired, that's all, " Botan ordered as she silently added, I hope. At that point, Shiori had already entered her room and shut the door, and the four of them outside sighed with relief.  
  
"Kuwabara, could you get Kurama's luggage? He's really heavy," Yuusuke asked. Kuwabara nodded and picked up Kurama's suitcase as well. Yuusuke entered Kurama's room and put him down on one of the two beds. "Okay, so now what? How are we going to wake him up?"  
  
"It's simple. Anyone have some smelling salts?" Botan asked.  
  
"No, but I think there's some on top of the drawer set over there," Kuwabara answered. Botan walked over and found a corked bottle that had "smelling salts" on the label. She uncorked it and waved it under Kurama's nose. Kurama awoke with a start.  
  
"Wh-what? Where am I?" he asked as he looked around.  
  
"Let's see . . . you're in your hotel room, your mother's next door, and ooh look! There's a balcony in your room! And your mother is sitting in hers reading some magazine . . ." Botan replied.  
  
"Oh, great. Now I remember. So now I have to continue to cross dress as long as she's next door. WHY ME?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" Everyone sweatdropped. Just then, there was a knock on the door. Yuusuke got up and opened the door. It was Shiori. She was in a showy two-piece swimming suit with a towel wrapped around her thin waist. Yuusuke could not help but stare at her.  
  
"Hi, I just decided to stop by and see how Kurama's doing. She's fine, isn't she?"  
  
"Oh, Kurama's fine alright. She was just a little exhausted, that's all. Thank you for your concern," Yuusuke replied.  
  
"In that case, I'm off! I hope I'll see you a little later at the beach! Sayonara!" With that, she headed off to the elevator. Yuusuke closed the door and then whistled. Kurama hears this and jumps out of bed and grabs Yuusuke's collar.  
  
"You weren't hitting on my mother back there, were you?" he asked in his normal voice, pulling a rose out of his hair with his other hand. Yuusuke's eyes grew big as he saw the rose. He'd seen Kurama fight enough times to know what Kurama could do with that whip.  
  
"N-no, of course not, Kurama. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be heading off to my room to unpack. Puu, come on!" Yuusuke slipped out of Kurama's grasp, grabbed his suitcase, and ran out the door to his room. Puu, Kuwabara, and Botan followed suit. Hiei only stood and sweatdropped.  
  
"You know, Kurama, you really didn't need to do that," Hiei commented.  
  
"I know, but she's my mother."  
  
After unpacking (in other words, several hours later) . . .  
  
"So, it's around five right now. What do you guys want to do? We could either start investigating or we could just goof off for the rest of the day," Botan said.  
  
"I say that we start investigating and then goof off if we have time at the end," Kurama replied, "We have no idea how long it'll take for us to verify the rumors." (AN: At this present point, Kurama has not changed his clothes at all.)  
  
"Okay, what about you, Yuusuke?"  
  
"I agree with Kurama. We came here to work, so I say we get that done first."  
  
"Same here," Hiei said.  
  
"Okay, then, that's three votes for start investigating, so why don't we split up into two groups? Kurama, you'll be with Hiei. Yuusuke and Kuwabara, you're with me. We'll meet here in the lobby at seven for dinner. Good luck!"  
  
"Okay, so, where do you want to start, Hiei?"  
  
"Why don't we go back to the airport. There were quite a few youkai there. I'm pretty sure if we started asking around there we'll get an answer."  
  
"And what if we run into trouble?"  
  
"It really wouldn't matter, the two of us are enough to beat them up. We can just leave one alive for questioning."  
  
"Alright."  
  
Ten minutes later . . .  
  
"Hi, I was wondering if you know anything about the rumors that there's someone who's going to steal one of the three treasures of the Reikai," Kurama politely asked a clerk at the information desk, pretending to be a girl. The clerk's eyes grew large and then he exploded as a youkai took his place.  
  
"So, what if I do? Guys! Get those two!"  
  
"Hmph, and how many of you are there?" Kurama asked in his normal voice, putting his sunglasses on top of his hair. He pulls out a fresh rose. "Rose Whip!"  
  
"Okay, change of orders! Kill the little one, but leave the redhead alive! The boss is gonna want to talk to him!"  
  
"Kill me? You're gonna need more powerful youkai if you're gonna kill me!" Hiei said as he disappeared and reappeared as the youkai collapsed. The youkai behind the desk looked in shock and amazement as his companions fell. "You're the only one left . . . now, answer our questions if you want to live! Both Kurama and I have quite a few ways of killing you . . ."  
  
"O-okay . . . what do you want to know?"  
  
"First of all what's this about someone wanting to talk to me?" Kurama demanded in his normal voice, not bothering to disguise himself at all.  
  
"He-he says he wants revenge on you for killing his brother a couple of hundred years ago when you stole something from him . . . he said that this was the perfect trap for you . . . please don't kill me!"  
  
"Oh, why don't you tell me your boss's name? I've killed so many people in the past, I don't think I remember him," Kurama sinisterly asked.  
  
"Fukuyama . . . his name's Fukuyama. His brother owned a gem that was capable of increasing any demon's power. Please don't kill me!"  
  
"Oh, that guy . . . You know, he was begging for his life just like you are now, but I killed him anyway . . . I think I ought to do the same. You are no longer of use to me. By the way, I planted a shimaneki seed a little while ago. Die."  
  
"Aaaaaaaah . . .!!" the youkai screamed as the plant burst out of his body.  
  
"Kurama! Was that absolutely necessary?" Botan asked as she entered the baggage claim area with Yuusuke and Kuwabara.  
  
"Of course it was. He would have told his boss about me. Tell Koenma that there is no truth to the rumors at all, Botan."  
  
"Alright, Kurama, what are you not telling us?" Yuusuke asked. He could tell that Kurama was definitely hiding something.  
  
"It's my business, that's all there is to it."  
  
"What Kurama is trying to say is that there's some youkai named Fukuyama who's out to get him because Kurama killed his older brother a couple hundred years ago while stealing something. Now Fukuyama wants to get back at Kurama and figures that this is the best way to get him here. Did I miss anything?" Hiei inquired. Kurama did not reply.  
  
"In that case, we'll help you," Yuusuke replied, "as your friends. We can't exactly let you fight on your own, besides, I'd feel guilty if we all just ditched you here and you end up dying fighting this Fukuyama character. We'll help you find him, too. Besides, you really don't know how many stupid thugs this guy has working for him. You may need help."  
  
"Besides, if you die, who's going to train me if we get involved in another fighting tournament?" Kuwabara asked, remembering how Kurama had trained him.  
  
"That and I don't think your mother would appreciate it if she returns home to find out that you're not there," Hiei added.  
  
"So, you see? It's settled, no ifs, buts, or ands about it. We're helping you and that's final," Botan concluded. "So now that it's been settled, I'll call Koenma and tell him there's no truth to the rumors. In the meantime, let's go and have some fun at the beach!"  
  
One hour later in room 506 . . .  
  
"Botan, is it absolutely necessary for me to wear this swimsuit?"  
  
"Of course it is! You don't want your mom to find out you're here, do you?"  
  
"Well, no, but-"  
  
"Well, then be quiet and wrap this towel around your waist!"  
  
"Okay, I'm done with him!" Botan announces to Kuwabara, Yuusuke, and Hiei. All four were in their swimsuits. She looks around to see that Kurama was still in the bathroom. "Kurama! Get out here at once!"  
  
"Do I really have to come?"  
  
"Of course! No questions asked!" At that Kurama resigns and steps out of the bathroom with all the grace and elegance of a youko. Kuwabara, Yuusuke, and Hiei could only stared wide-eyed at the results. Kurama was wearing showy two-piece green swimsuit that matched his eyes with a pretty sky blue towel wrapped around his waist, his hair was now French braided and the end was tied with a pretty ribbon that was the same color. He also had a big fancy straw hat and a bigger purse then before to top it off. "Now, add these sunglasses, and we're ready to go!" (AN: Can't you just see him in this?)  
  
"Wow, where did this swimsuit come from?" Yuusuke asked.  
  
"This is Keiko's as well," she replied. At that point, Yuusuke and Kuwabara started to blush at the same time. Hiei realized what Kuwabara was thinking about and kicked him hard in the head as they entered the elevator.  
  
"Ow . . . Hiei what was that for?" Hiei only gave Kuwabara an extremely cold stare in reply. "Oh, I get it. So you're in love with Yukina as well?"  
  
Hiei gives Kuwabara a disbelieving look before answering, "No, it's just that I think it's extremely inappropriate to think like that about girls." Yuusuke, Botan, and Kurama were desperately trying to hold back their laughter at the situation, without much luck. It wasn't long before all three were about to die of laughter. After all, Yukina was Hiei's sister, and he was extremely overprotective of her.  
  
"What? What's so funny?" Kuwabara asked, totally clueless. None of the three were able to answer. Before Kuwabara could ask anymore questions, the elevator reached the lobby and all five got out and headed for the beach.  
  
At the beach . . .  
  
"Wow, I never thought that there'd be so many people here," Yuusuke said. "Or so many girls for that matter!" Botan smacks Yuusuke in the back of the head.  
  
"If you keep this up, I'll tell this to Keiko!"  
  
"Alright, I get the message."  
  
"Good. So, anyone up for a swim?" Botan asked.  
  
"I am not going anywhere near the water. I think I'll just sit here and read for a while," Kurama said.  
  
"Hey, Sakura! Over here!" a voice shouted.  
  
"Oh, no . . . not my mother . . . why did she have to be here?" Kurama grumbled as soon as he recognized the voice.  
  
"Why don't we put our stuff down over there?" Botan suggested.  
  
"Wouldn't we have to anyway?" Hiei replied. "Botan, you did bring something to help me play the role of Kurama's kid brother, right?"  
  
"Um . . . yeah! It should be in Kurama's bag. I'm going out for a swim. Anyone coming with?"  
  
"I'm going. Kuwabara, what about you?"  
  
"I think I'll come too."  
  
"Have fun you two!" Botan shouted as she, Yuusuke, and Kuwabara dumped all of their stuff in Kurama's arms and headed for the water.  
  
"Great, and they just had to dump their stuff with me . . ."  
  
"Well, onechan, are you going to sit with Minamino-san?"  
  
"Yes, Hiei . . . we are," Kurama replied between his teeth. He was really getting agitated over this, not to mention he was about ready to have a panic attack. He walked over and spread out a spare towel he had in his purse next to his mother's.  
  
"Great day to be at the beach, right?" Shiori cheerfully asked.  
  
"Um . . . yeah," Kurama replied (in his Ikari Shinji voice) as he set down all the stuff that Botan, Yuusuke, and Kuwabara dumped on him. Hiei had already rummaged through Kurama's bag and started to play with the sand. Not long after, a cotton candy salesman came by. "Hiei, would you like some cotton candy? I'll buy some for you." It's a sweet fluffy food, Kurama silently added.  
  
Hiei looks up and gives Kurama and incredibly cute smile and replies, "Sure!" Kurama gets up with his wallet and goes up to the salesman. He returns a couple of minutes later with two things of pink, fluffy cotton candy.  
  
"Here you go, one for me and one for you."  
  
"Thank you!" Hiei then stopped playing in the sand and sat down on Kurama's towel to eat his candy. "This is good, onechan!"  
  
Somewhere out in the ocean . . .  
  
"Yuusuke, is that Hiei I see eating cotton candy?!" Botan incredulously asks.  
  
"Let's see . . . Yep! That would be him alright," Yuusuke replies, and then does a double take as what Botan said registers in his brain. "Cotton candy?!"  
  
"Urameshi, what are you yelling about?" Kuwabara asks. He hadn't been paying attention to Botan earlier.  
  
"It's-it's Hiei, and he's eating cotton . . . candy . . ." Yuusuke answers in an even more incredulous voice.  
  
"Urameshi, you're right! I don't believe it . . . Hiei's eating cotton candy . . ."  
  
"Botan, let's swim back to shore, I don't want to miss this!" Yuusuke suggests.  
  
"Let's!" Kuwabara adds as all three of them start swimming back to shore.  
  
Meanwhile . . .  
  
"You have such a cute little brother, Sakura. How old is he?"  
  
"Um . . . thank you. He's ten," Kurama nervously responds.  
  
"Hey, Hiei, Kurama, Minamino-san."  
  
"Oh, tired from swimming already?" Kurama asks as Botan sits down in the sand.  
  
"Yeah. You can go if you want, we'll watch Hiei for you."  
  
"Thanks, but that's okay. I think I'll just stay here and work on my tan."  
  
"Well, you know what? It's already seven! I'm getting hungry. Care to join me for dinner?" Shiori asks as she looked at her watch.  
  
"That's all right, we'll eat on our own a little later. Thank you for asking," Kurama politely responds, hoping that she wouldn't insist on them joining her.  
  
"You're welcome. I hope you will join me sometime in the future. Sayonara, and sumimasen," she kindly replies. She puts her stuff into her bag and walks towards the hotel. Kurama lets out a huge sigh of relief.  
  
"I'm so glad she didn't press the matter," he says with relief, "If she did, then I'd have to insist on paying the bill and if she lets me pay it, then I'd have to sign as Minamino Shuuichi on the receipt, thus, in effect, give my identity away."  
  
"Why even bother to insist if it's that risky?" Yuusuke asks.  
  
"Because it's polite and it's something you are supposed to do!" Kurama yells. He takes a deep breath to regain his usual calm composure. "Now, I saw only one restaurant in the hotel when we arrived, so that's where we're going to have to eat. However, since it's a hotel, it's gonna be expensive. That and just because the people inside were in formal dress. You two (he points at Kuwabara and Yuusuke) are going to owe me money when we get back. I'm only paying for the rooms and my, Botan's and Hiei's share of the food. Botan and Hiei do not have to pay me back only because Hiei's a youkai and would have no way of paying me back and Botan works for Koenma. I'd really hate to be on Koenma's bad side."  
  
"Thank you, Kurama!" Botan exclaims.  
  
"However, that still does not mean that you can just eat as expensively as you want, Botan! Otherwise, I'll have to make Kuwabara and Yuusuke pay for part of your food as well! Now why don't we go back inside and change for dinner?"  
  
Half an hour later . . .  
  
"Botan! Do I really have to wear this dress?! The split is incredibly high!" Kurama yells in the bathroom as Botan and the others wait.  
  
"Yes, you do! Besides, both Keiko and I thought that it'd look good on you! Now are you done putting it on? I need to put on your makeup!" (The other three sweatdrops at Kurama's comment and the amount of time this is taking.)  
  
"Alright, Botan, I'm done, I'm done."  
  
"Good!" She enters the bathroom. "Now, a bit of blush here . . . A bit of mascara there . . . Now a bit of eyeliner . . . A touch of lipstick . . . Followed by a touch of lip gloss . . . A pair of clip-on earrings . . . A silver bracelet on your right wrist . . . A silver ring on your right ring finger . . . Okay, never mind, make that your pinky . . . A silver necklace to top it off . . . Now, your hair, how's this?"  
  
"It's fine, I guess . . . at least my mom won't recognize me for sure . . ." Kurama mumbles as he steps out of the bathroom with all of the grace and elegance of a fox. Once again, the other three could only stare wide-eyed at the results. Kurama was in a black, skintight, thin shoulder strapped dress that split on both sides almost all the way up his legs with a pair of black elbow length gloves, with a small black velvet purse. His hair was French braided with the hair in front of his ears pulled back into the braid as well. (AN: Let's just call them eartails from now on.) A pair of clip-on earrings with a five-tailed fox dangling from each was now attached to his ears. Adding to the multi-tailed fox motif was a silver bracelet with five tailed foxes dangling from it, a ring with a five-tailed fox on it and a silver chain with a silver five-tailed fox as a pendant. He had red lipstick on with enough lip-gloss to make his lips shine, with a touch of blush that brought out his cheeks, and mascara that separated every single one of his eyelashes.  
  
"Now, Kurama, put these shoes on and we'll be ready to go!" Botan exclaimed as she handed him a pair of three-inch spike high heels with a pointed toe end and a shoe strap that would go around the ankles. Kurama's eyes bulged out and his face paled considerably when he saw the shoes.  
  
"Is there another pair of shoes I can wear? Those look rather painful and a bit too small for my feet," he asks as soon as he recovered from the shock.  
  
"Nope! Keiko and I specifically picked these out just for you! To be honest, I received the instructions for this assignment a couple of days in advance, because you had told Koenma about your mother's vacation. He suggested that I go shopping with Keiko to get some clothes for you for your disguise. In other words, these will fit you perfectly fine!" Seeing that he had no other choice, Kurama did as he was told and manages to get up on the first time through. However, when he started to walk, he fell over flat on his face. Everyone tried his or her best not to laugh, but to no avail. It wasn't long before Botan was also instructing Kurama on how to walk in high heels. After walking around his room a couple of times, he finally got the hang of it and the five of them went down to the restaurant for dinner. Puu was left behind upstairs.  
  
"Hello, this restaurant is open to hotel residents only. May I see your card keys so that I may scan them?" All five of them gave their cardkeys to the waiter. "Okay, would you please come with me?" They followed the waiter to their table. There he passed out the menus. "Would any of you like to see the wine list?"  
  
"Um, no, thank you. We're all underage," Kurama replied in his Ikari Shinji voice.  
  
"Well, in this hotel, it really doesn't matter if you're old enough or not."  
  
"In that case, why not?" The waiter hands Kurama the wine list and walks away.  
  
"Someone else will be here shortly to take your order."  
  
"Kurama, are you sure about this?" Botan asked, unsure if Kurama could drink.  
  
"Oh, don't worry. I won't get drunk and blow my cover. Now, let's look through the menu and have some dinner."  
  
Ten minutes later . . .  
  
"My name is Bob and I will be your waiter for tonight. Is there anything I can get for you while you look at the menu? Something to drink, perhaps? Tonight's special entrees include a scrumptious sea bass filet broiled to perfection with a cream of mushroom sauce. It comes with mashed potatoes and green beans. It costs $24.95. We also have a three lobster tail dish; it comes with a rich butter sauce and is served with new baby potatoes and grilled zucchini and cucumber. This one costs $32.95. Both come with complimentary soup or house salad. Our soups tonight includes a Cream of White Asparagus soup and New England Clam Chowder made with fresh clams," a waiter asked as he arrived.  
  
"Um, I'd like a glass of ice water with a slice of lemon," Kurama said as he continued to look at the menu.  
  
"Same here," the other four said in unison.  
  
"Okay, I'll return with your ice waters with lemon shortly."  
  
"So, what are you ordering for tonight?" Yuusuke asked, unsure of what to order.  
  
"Well, I'd like to try the lobster tail dish, with the white asparagus soup and a glass of red wine, that is, if Kurama would be nice enough to recommend one for me. I've never had any wine before," Botan replied.  
  
"Well, I'd be glad to. Now, I, on the other hand, will have the sea bass with the clam chowder and a glass of Merlot. I'd personally recommend that you share the glass of wine with me." (AN: I don't know why, but somehow something about Kurama made me say that he knows his wines!)  
  
"I think I'll just have the 8 oz prime rib they have listed here in the steak section, with some red wine and the house salad," Kuwabara stated.  
  
"I think I'll have the same as Kuwabara," Yuusuke said.  
  
"What about you, Hiei?" Kurama asked.  
  
"I think I'll have the pasta with crab and lobster sauce, with a nice salad and a bit of wine," he replied.  
  
"Okay, then, we have five of us, so how many glasses of wine should I order?" Kurama asked.  
  
"Well, how big are the glasses?" Yuusuke asked.  
  
"Um, they're your usual wine glass. I'd guess it's about half to about three-quarters of a can of beer, if that'll help you decide," Kurama replied.  
  
"Then I'd say two. Hiei, Kuwabara, Botan, and I can share one, and then you can have one for yourself."  
  
"Okay, then, now that that's settled, we just have to wait for waiter Bob to come back. I'll order the wine," Kurama said. "In the meantime, I have a question I'd like to ask Botan."  
  
"Well, shoot!"  
  
"How can you stand wearing these heels? They're really starting to hurt!" (Everyone sweatdrops.)  
  
"I forgot you've never worn heels before. They do hurt. It gets better as you wear heels more often. You can usually tolerate it longer as time goes on. Still, it's not like I don't take off my shoes if I end up wearing them for more than four hours at a time," she answered. At that moment, Bob came back.  
  
"Okay, here are your ice waters with lemon. May I take your orders?"  
  
"Botan, please, do go first," Kurama prompted.  
  
"Okay, I'll have the lobster tail special, with the white asparagus soup."  
  
"I'll have the prime rib dinner, with the house salad."  
  
"How would you like your steak done and what type of dressing would you like with your salad, sir?"  
  
"Medium, and Thousand Island for the dressing."  
  
"I'll have the same thing he's having, with the house salad and I'd like mine to be done medium as well. I'll have Ranch dressing with mine," Yuusuke requested.  
  
"I'll have the pasta with crab and lobster sauce, with a house salad. Do you have a Japanese style dressing with miso?"  
  
"We sure do, sir."  
  
"Okay, I'll have my salad with that, no cheese on the salad."  
  
"And I'll have the sea bass dinner, with the clam chowder. We'd also like two glasses of Merlot, and please bring three extra glasses."  
  
"Would you like for us to split the wine for you?"  
  
"Oh, no, that's fine. We can do it ourselves. Thanks for asking."  
  
"Okay then. I'll bring out the soups and salads shortly, and would you like the wine now, or with your entrees?" Bob asked as he collected the menus.  
  
"With our entrees."  
  
"What did he mean by that?" Botan asked as soon as Bob left.  
  
"Oh, you mean whether to have the wine now or with entrees? (She nods.) He meant whether you'd like it right now, or with your dinner. In my opinion, wine always goes with a fancy dinner like this. Of course, that's probably going to be pretty harsh on my poor credit card," Kurama answered.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, just based on what all of you just ordered, that was easily around twenty-five to thirty dollars right there; per person. Multiply it by five and that's already over a hundred. Add dessert, tip, and government taxes, and that'll be a little over two hundred dollars. And that's only for one night," Kurama explained. "Good thing I've got a lot of money in my bank account . . ." The other four could only stare with their mouths hanging wide open.  
  
"Okay, here we are. Here's the complimentary bread that goes with all entrees. Who ordered the clam chowder?" Bob asked.  
  
"That'll be for me," Kurama answered.  
  
"Okay and the house salad with Ranch dressing?"  
  
"That's for me," Yuusuke replied.  
  
"The white asparagus soup?"  
  
"For me."  
  
"House salad with Thousand Island dressing?"  
  
"For me."  
  
"And the house salad with no cheese?"  
  
"For me." Bob then went around the table to pick up the utensils that would not be used.  
  
"Okay, enjoy your soups and salads. I'll be back in a little while with your entrees," Bob said as he left.  
  
"Um, Kurama, I hate to ask you this, but you're the one who seems to know most about fancy dining etiquette. Which fork do I use?" asked Yuusuke.  
  
"It's very simple. You use them outside in. Now, I personally would not need to use my salad fork and appetizer knife, so that's why Bob picked them up. A soupspoon came with the soup, so that's what I'd use to drink my soup. You, Kuwabara, and Hiei, on the other hand, would use the fork that is farthest to your left. That's the salad fork. It's usually the smaller of the two forks that would be set on your napkin. Your napkin, on the other hand, would not be put into your collar, but on your lap, either folded in half in a triangle or a rectangle. Is there anything that I've missed?"  
  
"No, I don't think so. How do you know so much about etiquette?" Yuusuke asks in response while he starts eating his salad.  
  
"Okay, another set of rules right here. Never talk while your mouth is full and always chew with your mouth closed. Botan, don't slurp your soup, it's considered rude in Western dining etiquette; always scoop away from you and tip your saucer with your other hand as necessary. Don't try to pick up the saucer to get the rest of the soup. It's just another no-no in Western dining etiquette. Kuwabara, don't try to cram as much food in your mouth as possible at once, eat a little at a time. When you're done, put your fork, or spoon the same way that I have demonstrated here. Is there anything else I've missed?"  
  
"I don't think so, Kurama. I never thought you'd know this kind of stuff," Hiei replied with a small smile.  
  
"Yeah, well, now you know."  
  
Fifteen minutes later . . .  
  
"Are you all finished with your soups and salads?" Bob asked.  
  
"Yes, we are, thank you," Kurama replied. Bob goes around the table and picks up all of the plates and saucers.  
  
"Your entrees will be out shortly."  
  
Fifteen minutes later . . .  
  
"Okay, here are your entrees. Who ordered the lobster tail dish?"  
  
"I did, thank you."  
  
"The sea bass?"  
  
"I did."  
  
"The prime ribs?"  
  
"We did."  
  
"The pasta?"  
  
"I did."  
  
"Okay, and here are the two glasses of wine and the cups. Enjoy your dinner."  
  
"Thank you." Kurama then took the first cup of wine and separated it into approximately four equal proportions and gave one to Botan, Yuusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei. They all looked at the dark red liquid that is now in the wineglasses in front of them. Kurama, on the other hand, took a sip of wine, and started eating. Not knowing what else to do, the other four copied him, and ended up with the same reaction.  
  
"Kurama, this tastes a lot like sake," Botan commented as she started on her lobster. The other three nodded their heads in unison.  
  
"That's because both are wines," he replied. "So, what do you all think of fine Western cuisine now?"  
  
"Well, it's a new experience for me and Kuwabara," Yuusuke replied.  
  
"Definitely a new one for me," Botan agreed.  
  
"And it's also new for me as well."  
  
Half an hour later . . .  
  
"Are you all finished with your entrees?"  
  
"Yes, we are, thank you."  
  
"Would any of you care for dessert?"  
  
"Um, why don't we see the menu first and then decide?"  
  
"Okay. I'll be back shortly."  
  
Couple of minutes later . . .  
  
"Okay, here are the dessert menus. The special for tonight's dessert is a warm chocolate cake with melted chocolate in the center. It is served with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream and a small wafer. It costs $3.95. I'll be back in a little while to take your orders."  
  
"Now that sounded good. I think I'll try the special," Kurama said.  
  
"I agree. Make that two, Kurama," Botan agreed.  
  
"Make that four. Urameshi and I also want one of those."  
  
"Hiei, what about you?"  
  
"I think I'll have the same."  
  
Five minutes later . . .  
  
"So, what would you like for dessert?"  
  
"We'll have five specials."  
  
"Anything else? Coffee, tea?"  
  
"Do you serve green tea here?"  
  
"We sure do."  
  
"I'd like one," all five simultaneously said.  
  
"Okay, so it's five specials and five cups of green tea?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Okay, I'll be back in a little while."  
  
"I'd hate to imagine the bill now . . ." Kurama groaned. He knew that he'd be low on money for at least a year, if not longer.  
  
Ten minutes later . . .  
  
"Okay, here are you desserts and green teas. Enjoy. I'll be back in a little while with the bill."  
  
"Oooh, this looks good!" Botan said.  
  
"It is good," Kurama said after he'd finished his first bite.  
  
"You're right," Yuusuke agreed.  
  
Five minutes later . . .  
  
"Okay, here is your bill." Kurama took it from Bob looked at it and nearly fainted. The cost, with just government tax alone, was $204.26.  
  
"Wow, Kurama, that's one steep bill. Glad I'm not the one paying it."  
  
"I wouldn't say that so loudly if I were you, Hiei. You ate the second most expensive dish out of the five of us."  
  
"So who had the most expensive?" Botan asked.  
  
"Me. Now, I'll just put my card here and finish up my tea." Bob came by a little while later to pick up the bill and returned with the receipt. "Now, I have to add in the tip and that'll give me a grand total of $235 and take the customer receipt . . . my poor bank account will be pretty dry soon." (AN: I actually calculated that if Kurama were to have a bank account, starting with $1000 and continuously compounded at 13% from the day he was born, he would be able to pay for all of this for this entire trip with about $500 to spare! ~_^)  
  
"Don't forget, Kurama, Kuwabara and I will pay you back once we go home."  
  
"I know. Now, I just need to sign my name and that's it!"  
  
"Okay then, Minamino-san, I hope you enjoyed your dinner tonight. Please, do return at a later date. Have a good evening, ma'am."  
  
"You, too." With that, the five of them got up and walked towards the door. On their way out, however, was the bar, and there were more than a few drunk men there who whistled as Kurama walked by, because of the high split in his dress.  
  
"Hey, little lady, would you like to come by my room a little while later? We'll have lots of fun together! I won't take no for an answer!"  
  
"No, thank you. I don't like to hang around with the likes of you!"  
  
"That wasn't one of the choices we gave her now was it, gentlemen?" The rest of the drunkards shook their heads. "Oh well, it doesn't really matter, because you're coming with us anyway!" With that all of the men at the bar got up and got into offensive fighting positions. Yuusuke and Kuwabara were about to fight back when Kurama calmly pulled off his left glove and started to let flower petals swarm out of his hand until a blizzard of them has formed around him.  
  
"Should I attack you with this swarm of petals?" The men only ignored him and attacked, thinking that it really can't do much against them and attacked. "Oh well, Fuka Enmujin (Petal Hurricane)!" The petals swarmed around the men, attacking until they were all unconscious. Then, just as sudden as the attack appeared, it disappeared. Kurama calmly put his glove back on and said, "Bar tender, please call the proper authorities on cleaning up this mess. Thank you." With that, they all walked away as though nothing happened. The bar tender, on the other hand, was more than just a little frightened and nodded in response.  
  
One week until they leave . . .  
  
"Okay, so what do we have on this Fukuyama guy?" Botan asked as they all had a meeting in Kurama and Hiei's room to pool their information.  
  
"Well, we have found out that he's definitely after me and that he has a hideout somewhere on this island. Hiei and I have checked the forests and have found nothing, so my best bet is that it's somewhere in this hotel," Kurama said.  
  
"So, why don't we search the hotel tonight? I say we start with the basement and search our way up," Botan said.  
  
"Sure, but at what time? We need to make sure we won't be interrupted."  
  
"How about midnight? There would be no new guests and the clerk at the front desk would not be there any more. The security system is only armed around the cash registers, doors that lead to the outside . . . so forth. I think we should be able to successfully conduct a search without any interruptions then. We'll meet here in this room. In the meantime, what shall we do today?"  
  
"Well, we do have arrangements to have dinner with Shiori tonight at seven, and she did say that she's paying the bill," Yuusuke said. "So whatever it is we do, we need to be sure that we'll be back on time."  
  
"In that case, anyone up for a trip to the spa? Get a nice massage, sit in the Jacuzzi, have a nice fruit cocktail . . ." Botan suggested.  
  
"Why not?" Yuusuke agreed. With that the meeting was over as all five went to get changed.  
  
Seven o'clock that same night . . .  
  
"This is where we're suppose to meet Minamino-san, right Kurama?" Botan asked as she sat in the hotel restaurant.  
  
"Yeah. She reminded me as I when I had to go back to my room to get something," he replied.  
  
Half an hour later . . .  
  
"I think something's wrong. My mother is never late for anything," Kurama said. They'd been waiting for half an hour, and she still had not shown up. "Hiei, can you do me a favor and-"  
  
Just then, a waiter came by and said, "I have a phone call for someone named Kurama. Would that happen to be any of you?"  
  
"Yes. I'll take the call," Kurama replied. He walked over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?"  
  
"Hi, Kurama. In case you're wondering, I have your sweet mother right here. I'm sorry she can't come to dinner, but if you want to get her back, come down to the hotel basement by eight thirty and we can negotiate something, I'm sure. If you don't come . . ." There was a brief silence, a loud scream and then the phone was dead. Kurama walked back to his friends with an extremely furious look on his face.  
  
"What's wrong, Kurama?" Botan asked when she saw the look on Kurama's face.  
  
"He's got my mother." That was all he needed to say before the others got up. "We're going down there, after I change. I can't fight in a dress and spike heels." They all headed for their rooms right away to change.  
  
Fifteen minutes later . . .  
  
"Where did he say to go?" Botan asked as they all got into the elevator. They'd all changed into their usual battle uniforms. Kuwabara and Yuusuke in their school uniforms, Hiei in his usual clothes and sword, and Kurama in his jacket and pants with a sash around his waist.  
  
"The basement, by eight-thirty. I have no idea what he has planned for us, but I suggest that I stand in front of all of you," he said as he started to release another swarm of flower petals.  
  
"Kurama, you're using the Fuka Enmujin again?"  
  
"It's a pretty good defensive technique, unless your opponent uses fire, then it's pretty much useless," he replied, remembering his run-in with Karasu during the finals of the fighting tournament. "Botan, you're guiding us to his hideout. The four of us will take care of the fighting."  
  
"Right!" Just then, the elevator dinged to reveal a large group of youkai. This, of course, would have gone unnoticed by the group except for the fact that the youkai were screaming quite loudly, so their presence was made known. Half a minute later, the petal hurricane dissipated to show the bodies of twenty to thirty youkai, all cut up in various places. Kurama calmly walked through the carnage as though it was not there at all.  
  
Meanwhile, in enemy HQ . . .  
  
"Boss, Kurama and his friends have broken through our first defense line!"  
  
"Oh, well, that was expected. However, as long as the mother of his human body is here, he won't quit. However, it will be entertaining to see how he deals with the next bunch!" Fukuyama replies as he continues to watch the security cameras. Shiori was in a cage right next to Fukuyama.  
  
"Shu-Shuuichi?"  
  
Back to Kurama and friends . . .  
  
"Guys, I'm getting a reading up ahead. There's a group of three, no, four enemies up ahead with a medium power level," Botan reported.  
  
"Well, whoever they are, they can't be that powerful!" Yuusuke replied, completely confident that they would not lose. They continued to walk down the hallway. Just then, there was a shout.  
  
"Horizontal Boulder Explosion!"  
  
"Tiger Fireball Attack!" A huge number of boulders and fireballs came crashing towards the group. They all dodged it.  
  
"What the- what was that? Weren't those the attacks of Byakko and Genbu, two of the four saint beasts that we defeated a long time ago! I thought they were killed!" Yuusuke exclaimed.  
  
"Very intuitive, Urameshi Yuusuke. However, with my cloning machine, I can clone not just the person or demon, but their powers as well!"  
  
"Let Hiei and me take care of this. Rose Whip!" Kurama charges towards two Genbu as they both use the same attack again. Hiei, on the other hand, was pulling the bandanna off of his forehead to reveal his jagan.  
  
"Horizontal Boulder Explosion!" Kurama, remembering how he had to defeat Genbu last time, looked for the little glowing stone within each swarm of rocks. He finds them both and destroys it with his whip.  
  
"Jaoh Ensatsu Ken Rengokushyo!" Hiei takes a running start and sets both of the Byakko on fire, killing them at the same time.  
  
"Come on! Let's continue down the hallway!" Kurama shouts as he starts to run.  
  
Meanwhile, back in enemy HQ . . .  
  
"Well, both of them defeated those two so easily, but they certainly will not defeat me! Well, Minamino-san, what do you think of your son now?"  
  
"It can't be Shuuichi, it can't be! He doesn't know how to do use a whip, especially one that transforms from a rose! Besides, he's not even supposed to be here!"  
  
"Oh, this is where you've been wrong. He's been here the whole time. You see, that girl named Kurama Sakura . . . is really him." (General look of shock on Shiori's face.) "Oh, look, it seems that they're already here. Excuse me, but I must prepare to fight them."  
  
Back to Kurama and friends . . .  
  
"The door seems to need an access code," Botan said as they arrived at a pair of metal sliding doors.  
  
"Botan, everyone, stand back," Kurama warned as he stepped forward with his whip. "Elegant Slashing Technique! Botan, stay here and wait." The door fell to pieces in a small cloud of dust. The dust cleared to show Fukuyama- who was a big, tall, youkai- standing in the middle of a fighting arena, eyes closed and, chanting. A cage was set off to the side of the arena. "Nani?!"  
  
"Shuuichi? Is that you?"  
  
I guess I have no choice but to show her who I really am, Kurama thought. Out loud he said, "Don't worry, mom, I'll have you out in no time!" With that all four of them stepped into the arena before Shiori could protest. The four of them enter the arena just as he finishes and opens his eyes. Suddenly, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Yuusuke start to attack Kurama. Kurama manages to dodge Kuwabara and Yuusuke, but is cut by Hiei's sword in the abdomen, drawing blood.  
  
"Shuuichi!"  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, Kurama, but it seems that your friends are now under my control! Mwahahahahahahahaha!"  
  
So that's what he was chanting before, a mind control spell. But how do I snap them out of it without killing them? Kurama wonders, dodging his friends' attacks at the same time. Wait a minute, if I just immobilize them, then I won't have to kill them, he realizes this just as the three of them try a group attack. Three thick vines suddenly appeared behind them and each wrapped itself around Yuusuke, and Kuwabara. Hiei, on the other hand, used his fire and burned the vine.  
  
"Using vines against them? That would work, except for the fact that it wouldn't work against Hiei! It's sad to see that you've become so soft, Kurama, not killing your friends. Oh well, I'm pretty sure you'll have to do it eventually! It's either you kill them, or they'll kill you! How will it feel, Kurama, to be killed by your very own friends?" Fukuyama announces with a wicked cackle.  
  
"Hiei, it's me, Kurama! Hiei, snap out of it! I really don't want to fight you!" Kurama shouts to a blank-eyed Hiei.  
  
"It's really too bad, Kurama. Hiei can't hear you! As long as I control his mind, I get to control what he wants to hear!" With that, Hiei restarted his attack on Kurama. Kurama drops his rose whip and pulls out a blade of grass, turns it into a sword, and counters Hiei's attack. The two continue to fight until Hiei suddenly backs off and kicks Kurama hard in the stomach with his knee. Kurama rolled over and coughed up a mouthful of blood.  
  
"Shuuichi, son, are you alright?" Shiori screamed from her cage, tears streaming down her face.  
  
"D-don't worry, mom, I'm fine," he manages to say as he gets back up.  
  
"You won't be fine after this attack!" Fukuyama said as Hiei puts up his arm and shoots some fire at Kurama. Kurama jumped backwards to dodge the attack, which crashed into the ground and sent up a huge cloud of smoke and dust. Suddenly, black lighting started to strike all over the place as the glowing form of a youko starts to take shape. The dust was suddenly blown away as Youko Kurama was revealed. Upon seeing this, Shiori simply fainted. "Now, you finally show your true form! I'm gonna have fun with you!" Kurama suddenly disappears. "What? Where'd he go? No matter-" Before Fukuyama could even give the order to attack, Kurama was behind him, ready to attack. Kurama was suddenly sent flying before he could attack. He turns around to see that Yuusuke, still under the spell, had used the Reigun on him. Kuwabara was still wrapped up by the vine.  
  
"Nani?! When did he get loose? No matter, I'll just restrain him again." Kurama summons more vines out of the ground behind Yuusuke, who notices, and dodges. The vines follow Yuusuke around, trying to wrap him up. The minute the vines made contact with him, they were destroyed. "What? The Reikodan? I see . . .I guess I'll have to take both of you a little more seriously. But first, I think I'll give the mastermind a little bit of a scare." He summons a bunch of carnivorous plants. Fukuyama's face starts to pale when he sees them. However, he quickly recovers by pulling out a remote control.  
  
"Kurama, you give the order for those plants to attack, and I'll push the button to send a electrical current through the cage. The entire bottom of that cage is metal, so think of what will happen to your mother . . ."  
  
"How dare you! You'll regret this!" Kurama's eyes narrow as anger starts emanating from him in huge waves. Just then, Hiei's eyes returned to normal as Hiei manages to free himself from the spell.  
  
"Wh-what's going on? Kurama! When did you transform?!" Kurama doesn't even bother to answer Hiei's question.  
  
"My, my, my, it looks like Hiei got himself out of the spell . . . no matter. The other two are still under my influence."  
  
"Kurama, don't worry about Yuusuke and Kuwabara. I'll handle those two! You just save your mother!" Geez . . . good thing I got myself out of that spell, otherwise I'd been toast! I don't think Kurama knows how scary he is when he gets mad, Hiei thought.  
  
"Since you can't do anything at all, I'll make the first move!" Fukuyama charges at Kurama with his hand pulled back. Kurama dodges the attack, but makes no move of his own, except for continuing to glare at Fukuyama, who tries again and again to hit Youko Kurama with no success. "I've had enough of your dodging! If you don't stand still and let me beat you, I'll push the button!" Seeing that he has no other choice, Kurama complies with what Fukuyama's instructions. Meanwhile, Hiei was dueling with Yuusuke, and Kuwabara was still trapped by Kurama's vine.  
  
"I can't use the Kokuryuha, or I'll just end up killing him, but dodging like this won't help either!" Hiei mumbles as he dodges Yuusuke's attacks. "However, if I could just knock him out . . ." Hiei suddenly increased his speed and gets himself right behind Yuusuke and hits Yuusuke in the back of the neck just hard enough to knock him out without breaking his neck. Yuusuke collapsed onto the ground. Hiei looks up to see that Kurama was just standing there while Fukuyama was landing punch after punch on him. "Why is Kurama just standing there? Wait a minute . . . what are those vines over there doing?" Hiei wonders as he sees a bunch of vines by his mother's cage.  
  
"Fukuyama, I've had enough of this. Go on ahead and push the button!" Kurama suddenly said.  
  
"Oh? So, I see that you've decided to betray your mother!"  
  
"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you . . ." Kurama started as Fukuyama turned around to look at the cage. The bars had been bent apart and Kurama's mom was now securely resting on a huge leaf.  
  
"Nani?! When did this happen?"  
  
"You only said I couldn't move or attack with my plants, but you never said anything about controlling my plants to free my mother. Your mistake; too bad it'll end up costing you your life! Rose Whip!" Kurama suddenly disappeared and decapitated Fukuyama with his whip. Without even taking a second look at Fukuyama, Kurama ran over to the leaf and lifted his mother to the ground. "Mom, mom, wake up!"  
  
"Hn . . . Wh-what happened?" she asked as she came to. She suddenly looks up to see Kurama in his youko form. "A youko? Where's my son?"  
  
"Mom, it's me," Kurama replies as he transforms back.  
  
"Shuuichi? I-I don't understand . . ."  
  
"Allow me to explain. Maybe it'll help you to comprehend this. Sixteen years ago, I was running away from a hunter when I was injured. I was too severely injured to continue running and there was no one around who'd help me. So I was left with only one choice: to push my soul from the body of the youko into the body of Minamino Shuuichi, who was still a fetus. My soul fused with his, and I was reborn as Minamino Shuuichi. You see, Minamino Shuuichi, and I are the same person. We are one. When I was born your kindness and love deeply touched me. You were the first person to treat me this way and you melted the block of ice that was my heart. Most of my life before this was all about staying alive. Love and kindness did not exist in the Makai. Thanks to you, I learned about love, compassion, and kindness. You are the first and only woman I've ever loved," Kurama says as he hugs her.  
  
"Oh, Shuuichi . . ." she replies as she hugs him back with tears in her eyes. "Please, do tell me one thing: what was your name as a demon?"  
  
"Kurama, mom. Kurama."  
  
"One more question: were you that girl I was sitting next to on the plane?"  
  
"Um . . . Sadly, yes."  
  
"Well, we still have one more week left here. We may as well have fun together! Now, please, introduce me to your friends . . . okay, maybe after we get them and you to the hospital for treatment. You should be more careful."  
  
"I know, mom, I know. No, I think they'll be okay after I bandage them up and give them some of my own healing remedies. Spending couple thousand years as a demon has helped me to develop them. Are you injured at all?"  
  
"No. Are you sure about your remedies?"  
  
"Of course, I've used them on Yuusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei before, when we were all participants in a fighting tournament. They worked well then; they should work just as well now. Now, let's see, what kind of injuries do they have . . . let's see . . . Yuusuke has a bruised neck and forehead, but other then that, he seems to be okay. Kuwabara . . . (the vine slowly puts an unconscious Kuwabara on the ground as Kurama approaches) needs something for his bruises, but all in all, he seems fine. Hiei, you okay?"  
  
"I think so. Now, if I hadn't gotten myself out of that spell when I did, I wouldn't be, but I did, right? How's Yuusuke and Kuwabara?"  
  
"Those two are lucky to be my friends. Otherwise . . ." Kurama left the sentence hanging, not wanting his mother to know what he could possibly do. "In any case, we can just leave that guy's body here."  
  
"Kurama!"  
  
"Botan! Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah, I am, but, you need to get a bandage for that cut right away! Besides, you could have internal injuries from that kick Hiei gave you!"  
  
"Don't worry about it, I'm fine. That little scratch across my abdomen can't kill me. I've been through way, way worse. I'll make a remedy for myself as well."  
  
The next day . . .  
  
"Shuuichi! Wake up! It's already eleven-thirty! Shuuichi! Are you just going to sleep your day away?" Shiori shouts as she pounds on the door of room 506, despite the fact that it has a 'do not disturb' sign hanging from the door handle.  
  
"What is it, mom? I'm still wiped from yesterday . . . yawn," Kurama replies as he opens the door of his room, scratching his head and looking very, very sleepy.  
  
"Shuuichi! You've been sleeping for twelve hours straight! You should get up! It's not a good idea to oversleep, you know!"  
  
"Kurama, what's with all the ruckus . . . yawn?" Yuusuke asks as he opens the door of his room with Puu on his head. "Oh, my apologies. Good morning, Minamino-san."  
  
"I see, it seems to me that it was a good thing for me to check up on you, Shuuichi! Now, get up and get dressed and join your mother for lunch! I'll be expecting you to be at the restaurant by noon or I'll see to it your bank account will not be gaining any more money!" Shiori managed to walk as far as the elevator before she burst out laughing at the sight of Puu on Yuusuke's head.  
  
"Um, Kurama, do you mind explaining this to me?" Yuusuke asked. "What happened yesterday and how does your mom know that you're here?"  
  
"It's a long story. I say we do as my mother says. When it comes to my bank account, she's dead serious."  
  
~Epilogue~ (In Kurama's home) Several days after they return to Japan . . .  
  
"Shuuichi, come here. I've got something for you, just in case if you ever need to leave for a while." She hands Kurama a velvet covered box.  
  
"What is it, mom?"  
  
"Open it; go on." Kurama opens the box to find a golden locket on a gold chain. He opens it to find a picture of him and his mother inside.  
  
"It's beautiful . . . (he puts on the necklace) I promise I'll never take it off and I'll never forget you, ever." He gives her a big hug.  
  
~End~  
  
Kurama no Miko2003: Wow! I finished this fic already! I don't believe it! I started this fic four or five days ago and now it's already finished! It's more like me to take around a month to finish one! Well, what do you guys think of it?  
  
Kuwabara: Why was I not a part of the fighting at all? It's not fair!  
  
Kurama no Miko2003: That's because you're an idiot and you can't fight! You almost always lose, and, in my opinion, you can't sing! Now be quiet before I decide to ask someone from Flame of Recca if I could borrow the Fire elemental weapon and use it to turn you into a charred mass on the ground, slightly smoking.  
  
Hiei: You know, you don't need to do that. I'd gladly do it for you.  
  
Kurama no Miko2003: Really?  
  
Kuwabara (mumbling): She hates me, she really hates me.  
  
Kurama no Miko2003: Hiei? Would you be a darling and do me a favor? Turn that baka into a charred mass on the ground, slightly smoking for me!  
  
Hiei: With pleasure . . . Ensatsu Kokuryuha! (Kuwabara is now a charred mass on the ground, slightly smoking.)  
  
Kurama no Miko2003: Good, now, on to other matters. You're so spiffy Kurama!  
  
Kurama: You think I'm spiffy?  
  
Kurama no Miko2003: Of course! Why else would I write a fic that's centered on you?  
  
Kurama: I thought it was because there weren't too many fics written about this. Besides, am I really that scary when I'm mad?  
  
Kurama no Miko2003 & Hiei: Yes, you are, especially if you're a youko.  
  
Kurama no Miko2003: But that's what makes you spiffy, in my opinion. I think it's really sweet how you protect your mommy like that! It's what makes you special!  
  
Kurama: Are you telling me the truth, or are you just trying to get me to be on your good side?  
  
Kurama no Miko2003: I'm telling you the truth, honest! Besides, what reason do I have for trying to flatter you so that I would be on your good side?  
  
Kurama: Well, let's see . . . probably for your next fic.  
  
Kurama no Miko2003: Definitely not! N-O-T not!  
  
Kurama: Okay, I believe you.  
  
Yuusuke: Why did you have me, Kuwabara, and Hiei be put under some mind control spell and fight Kurama?  
  
Kurama no Miko2003: Let's see . . . because I want to?  
  
Yuusuke: Not good enough.  
  
Kurama no Miko2003: Okay, because I thought it'd go well with the fic, that's all. The guy was supposed to want revenge on Kurama, so it just made sense. Besides, this is the way these types of characters fight the good guys in most animé series I've seen, so I guess it kinda influenced the fic.  
  
Yuusuke: Okay that works.  
  
Kurama no Miko2003: Now, for my next fic, I have another little situation from Yu Yu Hakusho I'd like to write about: Hiei, Kuwabara, and Yukina. If you've read through Vol. 9 of the manga or seen the animé to the same spot, you know what I'm talking about . . . 


End file.
